Victoria Pendleton

no, we simply haven't evolved beyond them. just because we've evolved intelligence enough to form societies and create art and write essays on social conditioning doesn't mean that the underlying biological realities have disappeared!

social factors do influence our behaviour in big ways, but social factors are built on millions of years of biological processes that have got us to the (very recent) point where 'civilised' human society was able to appear at all. go and read some sociobiology and evolutionary psychology books - Cosmides and Toobey aren't bad.

I think this is where we'll end up differing. I base my understanding of society on social stratification and social constructs, with little or no reference to biological difference. There may be a biological or psychological foundation to these developments - i.e. the instinct to reproduce, the human as a social animal etc. but that's not what interests me - what interests me is the sheer (social) diversity in the species that can't be reduced to a few consituent (biological) parts. I may have misunderstood what you've been saying, but there are too many social variations to suggest that a biological response is the key determiner for someone's actions.

Going back to TT Tom's comment that I still absolutely love:

I wonder what else these lucky women can do as well as being beautiful. Maybe something *almost *as good as a man.

The biggest issue for me is the broader one of why it is that so many female athletes feel there is this need to validate themselves by stripping off for lads' magazines, when male athletes seem to be appreciated purely for their skills or athletic ability. It's the disparity that bothers me - not the fact that she's done it. Very few women are able to stand on their own merits, which is a shame.

The worst thing though is that FHM feel they have to airbrush her to be 'acceptable'. No wonder everyone's body image is fucked up...